from USA Rugby:

The USA Sevens Team has been handed the toughest of tests when it starts play on February 14 at the USA Sevens in San Diego.

Al Caravelli's U.S. squad is drawn in Pool A and will face the IRB Sevens World Series runaway leaders, South Africa, in their opening pool match. The Boks, who were unbeaten in storming to two opening Cup title successes in Dubai and George late in 2008, will also be joined in Pool A by the much improved Australia and North American rivals, Canada, whom the Eagles replaced this season as a 'core' team on the global circuit.

Defending Series and USA Sevens champions New Zealand are second seeds in San Diego and top pool B, in which they face Kenya, France and Uruguay.

The two sides in joint third place in the Series standings, England and Fiji, head the remaining pools. England face Pacific Island giants Samoa and also line up against Japan and the auld enemy Scotland in Pool C.

Waisale Serevi's Fijians also face a tough task in Pool D. George semi finalists Argentina are more than capable of beating them, while Wales will be out to improve on their pre-Christmas form and Mexico complete the line-up.

For the third year running the USA Sevens tournament will be played at baseball's PETCO Park in San Diego, a unique backdrop for what has so far proven an extremely successful event with 35% year-on-year growth.

"USA Sevens is about engaging a new rugby fan base through creating a unique American entertainment spectacular with rugby as its hub," said Tournament Director Dan Lyle.

"Building on the Olympic model of cultural diversity has enabled the U.S. to capture the imagination of a major TV network, ABC, the support of the nation's seventh largest city in San Diego and an attendance figure expected to top 50,000 this year,” Lyle added.

The USA Sevens will also offer all the teams a final opportunity to prepare for the Rugby World Cup Sevens for both men and women on March 5-7 in Dubai.

The tournament will bring together 40 men's and women's teams from 31 nations for what will be the world's biggest ever festival of Sevens rugby.

"With Rugby World Cup Sevens just a couple of weeks after the USA event, what goes on in San Diego will be key for coaches and will no doubt determine their final line-ups for Dubai," said the IRB's Sevens Manager Beth Coalter.

"San Diego also offers some of the women's teams crucial game time ahead of the World Cup. USA's women are hosting the New Zealand Maori, England, China, Canada and Japan in their own competition, which includes several of the top sides in the women's Sevens game," Coalter added.

The Women’s International Invitational Sevens Tournament will be held on Friday, February 13 at the Polo Club in Del Mar, in conjunction with the San Diego Invitational. Finals will be held on Saturday, February 14 in PETCO Park, amid the men’s USA Sevens Pool Play matches.

For a complete schedule of the USA Sevens event, visit http://www.irb.com/irbsevens/edition=4/fixturesresults.html.

USA Sevens tickets

Tickets are now ON SALE for the USA Sevens at San Diego's state-of-the-art Major League Baseball stadium PETCO Park. For more information go to www.usasevens.com.

Further information:
Dominic Rumbles, IRB Communications Manager, +353 (0) 86-852-0826

All,

I have wanted to attend the USA 7s Tournament in San Diego, CA since the event started, but haven't made it out there yet. This year I want to try and make it a reality! The event is one of the biggest in the USA and the women will actually be playing in the middle of the Tournament and not at the end of the very beginning!

We would be gone from Feb 13-15, 2009, so travel Friday night and return sometime Sunday afternoon. Right now Jetblue is having a sale on flights to Long Beach, CA which is only an hour away from San Diego. Hotels in San Diego are pretty cheap and we could share rental car costs and hotel costs etc Also we would need to purchase tickets to the event, there are no group discounts this year, but tickets are pretty cheap.

Ahem, if you would be willing to host a few humble ruggers, please email me!

Email me know if you are interested because we will need to get organized quick!

from ESPN Scrum:

With only 50 days to go until Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 kicks off in Dubai, event organisers are confident that the eagerly awaited three-day showpiece will set new standards on and off the pitch.

Over 100,000 people packed into the purpose-built 'The Sevens' stadium for the IRB Sevens Series event in Dubai in November and the magnificent venue is set to attract a similar crowd for the historic tournament that will see the world's top men's and, for the first time, women's teams competing to be crowned world champions between March 5-7.

"Rugby World Cup Sevens is a major highlight of the global sporting calendar attracting supporters from all over the world for a three-day feast of world class international Rugby on the pitch and outstanding entertainment for all the family off of it," said Rugby World Cup Sevens Tournament Director Beth Coalter. "Dubai 2009 promises to raise the bar once again. With an outstanding new venue, great facilities, including a Rugby village, the prospect of a record crowd, and the introduction of a women's tournament for the first time, Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 is an event not to be missed."

With the draw for the men's and women's tournaments taking place in Dubai on Monday, January 19, excitement is already building within the global Rugby Community ahead of a Rugby World Cup Sevens that promises to be the most open to date. The opening rounds of the grand prix style IRB Sevens World Series suggests that the competition will be fiercely competitive with Kenya and Portugal announcing themselves as genuine contenders alongside the likes of New Zealand, England, Fiji and Series leaders South Africa.

The women's event promises to be no less competitive with the global qualification process providing more than its fair share of surprises with Thailand upsetting one of the tournament favourites Kazakhstan to qualify from Asia, while Brazil defeated Argentina to make history as the first qualifiers for the inaugural competition.

"We are encouraging anyone planning to attend what promises to be another highlight in Dubai's sporting calendar to buy their tickets as soon as possible to avoid missing out," added Coalter.

from Rugby Football Union:

It’s just 50 days until the 2009 Rugby World Cup 7s kicks-off and England Women start their campaign to be crowned the inaugural Women’s 7 World Cup Champions.

England, coached by England 7s greats Simon Amor and Mike Friday, head into the prestigious tournament in Dubai, from March 5th-7th, ranked number one after winning the European 7s, Home Nations Cup, London Emirates Airline 7s and the Dubai 7s.

England’s squad for the Rugby World Cup is still to be announced, but Wasps player Sue Day has captained England throughout their 7s journey so far, and she’s hoping England will be contesting that final, come March 7th.

“The prospect of being involved in the first ever Women's 7s World Cup is incredibly exciting,” said Day, who has been capped for England 59 times and has contested three Rugby World Cups.

“Everybody taking part, what ever team they are playing for, will be making their own little bit of history, but obviously our aim is to be remembered for more than just taking part. For me there's no point entering a tournament like a World Cup unless you have the intention of trying to win it, and it's that opportunity that I'm most excited about.”

With 16 teams competing for Rugby World Cup glory, including France, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia, USA and Canada, England can take nothing for granted, especially because of the fast and furious nature of 7s rugby.

Day added: “I’ve heard that we’re ranked number 1, but to be honest seedings are probably not as good a guide to the women's game as they are in the men's. We don’t play each other as often, and indeed there will be teams at the World Cup who we have never played before.

“That said, we have been given the number one seeding on the back of some wins at recent tournaments, and of course we do take a lot of confidence from that.

“We are capable of winning, but so are a number of other teams and that’s one of the exciting things about 7s. We will just concentrate on performing to the very best of our ability and giving it everything.”

The Women’s Rugby World 7s is being run alongside the men’s 7 Rugby World Cup for the first time at the impressive Sevens complex in Dubai and Day is hoping this can only help showcase the talent on offer in women’s rugby.

She added: “It's great that our Rugby World Cup is running alongside the men's tournament. From the perspective of promoting the women's game, it's a constant challenge to find the opportunities to show people what we can do, and open people's eyes to the skill level and excitement of the women's game. A tournament like this however is clearly an opportunity to do that. In addition to that, just the sheer sense of occasion that comes with it being part of one big tournament is hugely exciting too.”

England will compete in their final warm-up tournament ahead of the Rugby World Cup in San Diego from February 13th-14th.

from my inbox:

UPDATE 5/1/2009: The schedule for the tournament has been posted, go here to see the schedule and results when they are posted!

This is your Club’s Invitation to the 33rd Annual MAGGOTFEST!!!!

Where: Missoula, Montana
When: May 2 & 3, 2009
Fee: $450 American Dollars
Mail your fee to:
PO Box 8704, Missoula, MT 59807
(Teams will be accepted on a first paid basis, so get your checks in!!)

Besides your boots, bring your Fest Spirit!! for 3 Great Games of Rugby, A Great Party, and Way too Much Fun!! Every club is awarded a trophy, but your club can win either the Best Team on the Pitch Trophy or the prestigious and revered Most Honored Side Trophy

For information contact: Tom France at 406-721-6705 (work), 406-721-6558 (home) or by email.

Website: http://www.maggots.org/

This tournament has been submitted to my 2009 Tournament Listing, we are up to over 30 tournaments, make sure to submit yours today!

This week's video comes via my inbox (Google Alerts) and is of the UCLA Women's Rugby Team playing Prom Dress Rugby. I love rugby in dresses, so I had to post it! I especially like the referee who appears to be in half a tux?!

The Bruin Rangers, UCLA's official women's rugby club team, held their 3rd annual Prom Dress Rugby game on January 8, 2009. Learn more about the team at their website here.

So the winter months are coming to an end for most of the country...ok, so maybe just for us in the South! I don't know how you Northern countries train in the Spring, it must be freezing and horrible weather to boot!

Anyways, The Girl and I have started back in the gym and we are loving it! It is amazing how you take some time away from the gym and instantly it's not a horrible torture device that it can become during rugby season. Another thing I am looking at is the Spring and Fall schedules for my team and I am excited but dreading it as well.

If you haven't heard, USA Rugby is changing the way the Women's program will be formatted. The Internets have been abuzz: K-train posted about the new Super League, Blondie posted about the D1 Super League as well, but there has been no official announcement yet from USA Rugby.

So just glancing at my Club schedule, All-Star Schedule, proposed D1 schedules and any USA Rugby WNT events that a player may be invited to...we will all be putting out more money than ever before to play rugby. Even if you do not play All-Star or WNT events, you will still potentially be paying more than ever. I am going to try and estimate the costs with a few different scenarios for you now:

This months free raffle will again not be a Your Scrumhalf Connection tshirt, but will be a new product! If you are bummed that I am not raffling off my tshirts, don't worry they are for sale here.

Thanks to Against the Head we have TWO videos for Rugby Video Monday...check them out!

from my inbox:

Hello,
I'm Brian Meindl, a high school girls rugby coach and we'd love to tour Orlando in the spring. Any chance we can organize a game or 2? We would be coming over the Easter Holidays from April 8-15th.

Cheers
Brian Meindl

Please let me know if your team is interested either by contacting me by email, or leave your details in the comments. I will make sure that Brian gets your email.

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